By FRANCESCA COCCHI, News Editor
Attending the annual junior trip Wednesday, the Class of 2013 got a taste of the big city with an NBC studio tour, a scavenger hunt and a Broadway show.
“Everything ran smoothly and we have gotten pretty positive feedback so far,” said Class of 2013 co vice-president Ciara Cornette of Rumson. “Everyone seemed to love the scavenger hunt and Broadway, and we’re happy with the day overall.”
After taking two charter buses to NYC, the juniors toured the National Broadcasting Company headquarters in Rockefeller Center. Stops on the tour included the set of the Dr. Oz show, a make-up room and the Broadcast Operations Center, which controls the programs sent from the headquarters to four different time zones.
“It was really cool just being there in the place where they film all these shows,” said Summer Russo of Spring Lake Heights.
The students also saw an eight-minute video on the history of NBC, which was the first major broadcast network in the United States and now owns stations such as E!, Oxygen and Telemundo. Throughout the tour some students even saw stars from some of NBC’s programs, including Jane Krakowski from “30 Rock.”
Culminating the tour was an interactive miniature news show where two volunteers per group acted as anchor and weather person in what tour guides called a “Fisher Price version” of an NBC news studio. A recording of the short was broadcast to the NBC cafe.
“It was fun doing the weather at NBC,” said volunteer Christian Kelly of Brielle. “I mean it didn’t feel much different than doing it at CHS, except you don’t get any run-throughs. So when you have a directionally challenged moment with the weather map and your orientation to it, everyone sees it.”
The juniors and chaperones walked to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch, where they had an entire room of the restaurant to themselves. Students selected drinks and entrees from a limited menu and finished off the meal with cookies before preparing for the second half of the day.
Approximately half of the juniors attended the Broadway production of “Anything Goes” while the rest split into pre-determined groups to participate in a Watson Adventures scavenger hunt in Midtown. Scavenger hunters followed directions and answered a series of questions based on clues about each location. Destinations for clues included the Disney Store, Rockefeller Center and Sardi’s.
Groups received points for each correct answer. Teams rushed back to the base at 3:41 to make the scheduled finish time and compare scores. After gaining a point for the best team name and winning the tiebreaker, the Holy Walkamoles won a slim victory.
Although they didn’t technically win, the N-Y-C-eekers felt their own victory in reaching the finish line first.
“The scavenger hunt was by far the best part of the day,” said N-Y-C-eeker Austin Smith of Hazlet. “Our group was so happy we finished first we were power walking like champs through the city, and we definitely bonded a lot while fighting over what the spinach on the New York Yacht Club was supposed to be.”
The N-Y-C-eekers, led by math teacher Justine Lane, even had a team motto, chant and pose.
“We were like a machine. A very efficient machine,” said Smith. “We passed like two groups and never looked back.”
After relaxing for an hour, the scavenger hunt groups met back up with the Broadway group to board the buses.
“[The play] was a delightful surprise,” said McKenzie Pavacich of Ocean. “It was a great production and I’m very satisfied.”
Students discussed the humorous play on the ride home, commenting on favorite scenes and lauding the tap numbers.
Class of 2013 council member Tyler Richardett of Tinton Falls said the trip went better than expected, highlighting the success of the scavenger hunt and the play. “It was a relaxing play,” he said.